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Carl Bleakley Willis (24 March 1893 – 12 May 1930) was an Australian sportsman who played Australian rules football with South Melbourne and University in the Victorian Football League (VFL) as well as first-class cricket for Victoria.

Carl Willis
Personal information
Full name	Carl Bleackley Willis
Date of birth	(1893-03-24)24 March 1893
Place of birth	Daylesford, Victoria
Date of death	12 May 1930(1930-05-12) (aged 37)
Place of death	Berrigan, New South Wales
Original team(s)	Wesley College, Melbourne
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1912–14	University	46 (41)
1915, 1920–21	South Melbourne	29 (18)
Total		75 (59)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1921.
Career highlights
AIF Pioneer Exhibition Game, London, 28 October 1916
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Family

The son of Thomas Rupert Henry Willis (1860-1933),[1] and Mary Wilson Willis (1867-1949),[2] née Bleakley, Carl Bleakley Willis was born at Daylesford, Victoria on 24 March 1893.[3][4]

Education

Willis was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne, and the University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Dental Science (BDSc) in December 1915.[5]

Football

University (VFL)

He was a regular player for University in 1912, his first season.[6]

Tribunal

He was suspended for four weeks after being reported by a steward for punching Fred Hanson in the match against St Kilda, at the M.C.G. on 18 May 1912.[7][8][9][10]

It was the first time in VFL history that a player had been suspended by a steward; and Willis was the only University player to be suspended during the club's VFL existence.[11]

South Melbourne (VFL)

He was cleared from University to South Melbourne in the 1915 pre-season.[12]

He captained South Melbourne in the 1921 season.

Pioneer Exhibition Game" (London, October 1916)

He played for the (winning) Third Australian Divisional team in the famous "Pioneer Exhibition Game" of Australian Rules football, held in London, on Saturday, 28 October 1916. A news film was taken at the match.[13][14]

Military service

He enlisted in November 1915 and served as a dentist with the Australian Army Medical Corps Dental Detail.

He served if France in late 1916, but was gassed, hospitalised and returned to England, taking charge of a dental unit on Salisbury Plain.[15] He rose to the rank of captain in July 1918.[16]

Cricket

His cricket career, which began in 1913–14, continued after he retired as a footballer. Willis represented the Australian Imperial Forces team in 1918 and 1919, and Victoria from 1914 to 1928. He was selected to tour New Zealand in 1920–21 with the Australian team but was unavailable.[17]

Dentist

He practised dentistry in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern until 1929, when he moved to Numurkah in northern Victoria and then to Tocumwal in New South Wales.[18]

Death

He died of pneumonia on 12 May 1930 in Berrigan, New South Wales,[19] and was buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery on 14 May 1930.[20]

See also

• List of Victoria first-class cricketers
• 1916 Pioneer Exhibition Game

Footnotes

References

• Football Riot: An Angry Crowd: M.C.C. Ground Rushed: Player Reported, The Argus, (Monday, 9 August 1915), p. 8.
• Pioneer Exhibition Game Australian Football: in aid of British and French Red Cross Societies: 3rd Australian Division v. Australian Training Units at Queen's Club, West Kensington, on Saturday, October 28th, 1916, at 3pm, Wightman & Co., (London), 1919.
• Growden, G. (2019) Cricketers at War, ABC Books: Sydney. ISBN 9781460711149
• Holmesby, R. & Main, J. (2007) The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. ISBN 9781921496325.
• Richardson, N. (2016) The Game of Their Lives, Pan Macmillan Australia: Sydney. ISBN 9781743536667.
• World War One Service Record: Captain Carl Bleackley Willis, National Archives of Australia.
• League Football: The South Melbourne Team, The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 13 June 1908), p. 25.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carl Willis (Australian sportsman).

• Carl Willis's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Carl Willis at AustralianFootball.com
• Cricinfo biography

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